Taranaki is a mountain volcano, which looks almost too perfect to be real. The 2518m high mountains, known also as Mount Egmont, is one of the most symmetrical stratovolcanoes in the world. Its visual power dominates the otherwise surrounding plains and makes it seem like a sentinel watching over the landscape, witnessing the environmental transformations that have taken place around it over time. In legend it is believed that Mount Taranaki was once situated inland next to Mount Tongariro, but one day the pair fought and Taranaki, the loser, moved out to the coast where he now resides. The park is ecologically important because of its distinctive vegatation zones that change according to altitude. At lower levels rimu and rata dominate, while kamahi is more prevalent in the stunted high-altitude forest. Following the park’s establishment, the surrounding forest was cleared for pasture. This turned the park into an island, as its Eden-like circular form provided a major contrast to the neighbouring farmland that satellite images strikingly reveal.